A Ryanair passenger was told to pay £50 to take her water bottle with her or miss the flight.
Whilst the Irish airline is renowned for its cheap prices, it also has a reputation for issuing extra charges to passengers whilst trying to board.
Ruby Flanagan was travelling from Dublin to London Stansted with her 750ml metal water bottle and her backpack, which could fit under her seat.
Flanagan purchased a £35.86 return “non priority” ticket for the weekend trip, which stipulates that she can only bring one small bag.
A Ryanair passenger was told to pay £50 to take her water bottle with her or miss the flight
PA
She said she brought a bag that she had used without a hitch on previous trips, and said the rucksack had always met the airline’s specific dimensions.
On her outbound flight from London to the Irish capital on February 1, she boarded with no issue, taking both her bag and water bottle on the flight.
However, whilst waiting in Dublin three days later for her return flight, this was not the case.
She was told she needed to place her bag in the airline’s dimension box, which she did and the rucksack fit in with a little push.
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Flanagan was dismayed when she was then told to place her water bottle inside the bag.
She told The Mirror: “In a raspy voice, I queried if such a step was really necessary, given that it hadn’t been required on my incoming flight. The crew member explained firmly that all extras must be stashed inside my bag when boarding the flight and directed me back to the departure area.
“Feeling increasingly flustered, I clumsily tried to cram the 750ml metal water bottle into my already bulging luggage. I was but one among several passengers stopped by the Ryanair staff, all of us scrambling to reorganise our belongings.”
She tried to rearrange the bag’s contents to fit the bottle in, with the zip struggling to stay secure.
However, she was dismayed when she was told that the luggage was too big and she would have to pay €60.
She questioned why the bottle was an issue, when on her previous flight it hadn’t been. In response, she “received a lecture” on how the bottle had to fit inside the bag or it counted as a “second bag”.
Ruby Flanagan was travelling from Dublin to London Stansted
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Despite pleading her case, she was told that if she didn’t pay then she would not be allowed to board. Reluctantly, she took her card out and paid.
Flanagan was not the only one who became a victim of ultra-strict airline staff. She estimates that Ryanair made an extra £200 from charging passengers for extra items.
On the flight, Flanagan realised it would have been cheaper to chuck her bottle away and buy a new one when she landed.
After filing a complaint with Ryanair at Stansted, she was told that she was “disputing a baggage fee charged for carrying a water bottle separate from your carry-on bag” and rejected her appeal.
Ryanair said in a statement: “This passenger booked a Basic Fare ticket for this flight from Dublin to Stansted (February 4), which allowed them to carry a small personal bag onboard. This passenger attempted to board with an additional carry-on, and as it would not fit within their permitted bag, she was correctly required to pay a standard gate baggage fee (€60).
“Once payment was made, this passenger travelled on this flight from Dublin to Stansted (February 4).”